
Acting
Luis Contreras
Born 1950-09-18 · San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tall, lean, and wiry, 6-foot-4 Euro-Indigenous Latino American character actor. The son of Euro-Indigenous Latino American character actor, Roberto Contreras. Luis Contreras was born on September 18, 1950. Lean and wiry, often sporting a mass of curly hair and drooping mustache, with his piercing dark eyes and angular face Contreras ranged between portraying various criminals and police officers. Contreras made his film debut as a Federale in Steven Spielberg's wonderful science fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." He also popped up as a zoot suiter in Spielberg's hilarious all-star comedy "1941." Contreras frequently acted in movies for director Walter Hill: "The Long Riders," "48 HRS.,""Extreme Prejudice," "Red Heat," "Geronimo: An American Legend," and "Last Man Standing." Contreras was especially memorable as a grocery store security guard in the cult classic sci-fi black comedy "Repo Man," the vicious ringleader of a gang of cocaine cowboys in "Stand Alone," a hostile eye-patched biker in the delightfully madcap "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," and a deranged homeless man who terrorizes a trio of teenage girls in the "A Night on the Town" episode of the hugely enjoyable horror anthology "After Midnight." Contreras also did guest appearances on the TV shows "CHiPs," "Quincy M.E.," "T.J. Hooker," "Knight Rider," "Riptide," "Hill Street Blues," "Simon & Simon," "Night Court," "Hunter," "Matlock," and "Carnivale", regularly working through the 1970s and 1980s. Luis Contreras died of cancer at the tragically young age of 53 on June 20, 2004.
Acting credits
8.2Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", and the story focuses on how a violent crime and the influence of narcotics alter their lives. Miklo is incarcerated and sent to San Quentin, where he makes a "home" for himself. Cruz becomes an exceptional artist, but a heroin addiction overcomes him with tragic results. Paco becomes a cop and an enemy to his "carnal", Miklo.
Bound by Honor
1993
7.4After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977
6.7A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.
48 Hrs.
1982
6.2A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.
Red Heat
1988
5.8In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, panic grips California, where a military officer leads a mob chasing a Japanese sub.
1941
1979
6.4John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.
Last Man Standing
1996
6.7A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted '64 Chevy.
Repo Man
1984
6.1Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.
Running Scared
1986
6.3The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.
Geronimo: An American Legend
1993
6.4William Walker and his mercenary corps enter Nicaragua in the middle of the 19th century in order to install a new government by a coup d'etat.
Walker
1987
6.1Jeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal aliens is responsible for Scooter's death, but the feds insist that drug dealers committed the crime.
Borderline
1980
6.5The eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession with his prized possession, Pee-wee encounters a host of odd characters and bizarre situations as he treks across the country to recover his bike.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
1985
6.6The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
The Long Riders
1980
6.3Lean, mean Texas Ranger Jack Benteen locks horns with a former friend, Cash Bailey, now a ruthless drug kingpin. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, they share a love interest in the sensual Sarita. When a crew of rogue soldiers descends upon the border town for an off-the-books mission, all roads lead to a bloody, to-the-death showdown, as loyalties shift and the lines between good and evil are blurred.
Extreme Prejudice
1987
6.2Needing a new partner capable of intricate cons, Richard Gaddis, recruits Rodrigo, a crook with a perfect poker face. The two plan a big-time scam: selling a fake Silver Certificate to currency collector William Hannigan. Rodrigo distrusts his new associate, but needs money to help out his ill father. The situation becomes more complicated when Rodrigo falls for Gaddis' sister, Valerie, drawing another player into the game.
Criminal
2004
5.7A college professor teaching a course called "The Psychology of Fear" brings his students (including a psychic) to his home, one dark and stormy night to tell scary stories. The first involves a young couple whose car breaks down by an old, abandoned house. The second has four trendy teenage girls getting lost in a bad part of town and chased by a pack of vicious dogs. Last, a woman on crutches confronting a stalker at the answering service where she works the night shift.
After Midnight
1989
5.9Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Barbarosa
1982
5.7Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.
Sunset
1988
4.7Shep Ramsey is an interstellar hero, righting wrongs, etc. His ship is damaged after a fight with an interstellar nasty and he must hide out on Earth until it can recharge. He leaves his power suit at home, but still finds himself unable to allow wrongs to go unrighted and so mixes it up with bad drivers, offensive paperboys, muggers and the like.
Suburban Commando
1991
5.4A World War II vet is pushed to the limit when gang members and drug dealers take over his neighborhood.
Stand Alone
1985
5.6When mild-mannered teacher Billy Ray Smith vows to bring a student's kidnapper to justice, he needs a bit of help. Lacking any cowboy skills of his own, he signs on a speedy gunslinger and a no-nonsense cowboy to help. Now, Smith may just have a chance at capturing his man: the merciless bandit El Diablo.
El Diablo
1990
5.5A gang of bank robbers with a suitcase full of money go to the desert to hide out. After burying the loot, they find their way to a surreal town full of cowboys who drink an awful lot of coffee.
Straight to Hell
1987
5.4Leonard Hoffman is an insurance salesman struggling to make ends meet. The fact that he has triplet sons who all want to go to Yale isn't making things any easier. Blanche Rickey is also worried about money; her husband is a millionaire with a weak heart, and she worries that he'll blow through all his cash before he finally dies. When Blanche meets Leonard, she devises a murderous plan that she claims will fix both their problems.
Big Trouble
1986
4.4Jeff and Mari Thompson are contently married, but they are stunned to see many of their friends and neighbors going through separations and divorces. Seemingly surrounded by people with domestic problems, Jeff and Mari begin to question their own relationship.
The Last Married Couple in America
1980